A former motorcyclist who hit a woman and left her body burned in a forest had his judgment impaired by excessive use of the drug ice, a judge has said.
Benjamin Troy Parkes, 46, was found guilty of violently murdering Namja Carroll along with his co-defendant Robert Sloan on July 14, 2020.
The 33-year-old’s body was then doused in petrol and set alight before being discovered by a hiker walking in the Sandy Point area of Sydney’s south-west 15 days later.
At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Natalie Adams highlighted a psychologist’s report diagnosing Parkes with ADHD and social personality disorder.
But she questioned whether these mental conditions could be linked to the crime, adding that CCTV footage revealed the former motorcyclist made “excessive” use of ice which affected his judgement at the time.
“It’s clear that I couldn’t sleep, I was taking a lot of ice,” he said.
During the trial, the jury heard that Ms Carroll met Parkes and Sloan when they were dealing drugs at the Hunts Hotel Liverpool, also in the south-west of the city.
Jurors were told that Ms Carroll had “invested” $8,000 in her illegal drug business using funds from her retirement fund.
Najma Carroll was murdered near Sandy Point Quarry, off Heathcote Road in Menai, south-west of Sydney, after becoming involved with drug dealers.
The body was discovered by two dog walkers in woodland (pictured: NSW Police officers return from searching woodland near Sandy Point Quarry in Menai in July 2020)
Prosecutors argued that Parkes was concerned that Ms Carroll “knew too much” about his drug business and struck a deal with Sloan to kill her.
The couple agreed to take her to an acquaintance’s home in Smithfield, where she was left in their garage before being taken to the Sandy Point woods to be killed.
Parkes claimed he had no intention of killing Ms Carroll and only wanted to set fire to her SUV out of fear it could be linked to the drugs deal.
He said he arrived at Sandy Point to see Sloan brutally beating the 33-year-old woman with a baseball bat.
The jury rejected these accounts and found Parkes guilty of murder.
Parkes claimed he had no intention of killing Ms Carroll and only wanted to set fire to her SUV out of fear it could be linked to the drugs deal.
Police said Carroll lived in Sydney’s inner west but was known to frequent the south-west. Pictured: NSW Police conduct a search in woodland near Sandy Point Quarry in Menai in July 2020
On Tuesday, defense attorney Nathan Steel still disputed that his client inflicted the fatal injuries.
Parkes’ claims that the murder occurred shortly after arriving at the bush were contradicted by cigarette butts found near the scene of the attack.
One of them tested positive for Ms Carroll’s DNA, proving she had time to stop for a smoke, Judge Adams said.
Forensic evidence that the victim received three blunt force injuries before being killed was also inconsistent with Parkes’ claims that he had seen Sloan hit her 20 times with the bat, Crown prosecutor Darren Robinson argued.
Judge Adams is set to sentence Parkes on July 26.
Sloan will face his own sentencing hearing for the murder on Friday.
NSW Police rescue officers speak to a detective near a forest at Sandy Point Quarry in Menai (pictured) in July 2020